


All The Wrong Circumstances, And Yet...

by BluDoodles



Category: Among Us (Video Game), Minecraft - Fandom, aphmau - Fandom, mystreet
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Human Impostor(s) (Among Us), Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau, Minecraft MyStreet - Aphmau, Strangers to Lovers, Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, travlyn - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29835786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluDoodles/pseuds/BluDoodles
Summary: achungus ! but make it characters from an old series that hardly anyone is into anymore! but not me, no i'm here to stay!in this story, i based the character's appearances on the amazing artwork by Sonhabem on tumblr! its absolutely gorgeous, if you haven't seen the art yet i'd highly recommend doing so!(sorry if this work isn't as good as expected, im a bit rusty from writing, but ive actually got an outline for this one so it should get better as time goes on and as i write it more! have a bit of faith in me please :#> i hope you enjoy it!)((this work is ACTIVELY IN PROGRESS! the rest of mine have sort of been abandoned... but i will try to update this one as often as i can! i'm aiming for once every week or two! feel free to reach out about it to me on my instagram, @bluberrypix !))(((if you want to rp the main pair here Please DM Me Pretty Please i can give you information on what i look for in a rp partner but the requirements are honestly super easy... Blease)))
Relationships: Travlyn
Kudos: 1





	1. Mission: Start

**Author's Note:**

> so... hi!  
> this sort of takes place... before all the gals move into lover's lane? it doesn't *actually* take place then but. you'll see, alright! the first chapter explains who knows who from where, don't worry!  
> this is absolutely inspired by among us, but i just inserted some of the main mystreet characters in, and gave them all specific roles and jobs to accomplish on the ship. ive also added a few tings to the layout of the skeld (the general ship layout of this story).  
> oh, and i .. uh. haven't actually watched Any of mystreet, mcd, starlight, etc etc. in . like years? so i'm sorry if this is out of character at all... i think i did a pretty good job remembering how each character acts, though!  
> i'll try to update this story every week or two! it takes a while to type out these long chapters, though, and I'll be switching POVs as the chapters go on, so be patient if it's taking me a while :> for now, enjoy!

Katelyn POV:  
1:14 AM. Click. [ATTENTION CREW.]  
Simultaneously, four bodies shifted into an upright position in the dark.  
[URGENT MISSION UPDATE: FIND AND ELIMINATE THE CREWMATE WHO IS WORKING AGAINST YOU, BEFORE YOU CAN RETURN TO EARTH FROM YOUR MISSION. REMOVE THE IMPOSTER EFFICIENTLY AND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. YOUR LIVES MAY BE AT STAKE. GOOD LUCK.] Click.  
…  
One of us…?

The harsh fluorescent lights in the cafeteria reflected against the metal food trays and into Katelyn’s icy hued eyes. Tossing her head down, she allowed the bangs of her sky blue hair to fall in front of her eyes as a makeshift shield from the light.  
A deafening silence filled the air between her and the nine other crew members seated around the circular table. Everyone knew what everyone else was thinking, without even having to ask. Wasn’t it obvious? Last night’s announcement has been on their minds ever since it woke them up.  
A soft cough came from the girl next to Katelyn, her chipper voice piercing the atmosphere a moment later. “Well, this mission is off to an exciting start, right?”  
Nine heads turned to face her, expressions ranging from confusion to exasperation.  
“I… guess you could say that.” A blue haired boy across the table ducked his head a bit in a nod. “Exciting or not, that silence was a drag.”  
Katelyn sighed softly, poking around her meal with her fork. “What’s more of a drag than this food… why can’t space food have, y’know… flavor?”  
With the silence fading, everyone turned back to their food, shoulders dropping. Small comments on their meals scattered through the air.  
The girl who piped up earlier turned to Katelyn, a lopsided grin on her face. Katelyn’s eyes scanned the girl’s face, noting her chestnut eyes, tan skin, round face, and dark hair. A quick visual swipe of her body led to a mental note: this girl wears the purple spacesuit. The girl was also considerably shorter than her--as a matter of fact, the rest of the women were shorter than her, too.  
“Hey! I’m Aphmau, you can call me Aph!” the girl chirped. A gloved hand was extended for a polite shake. Katelyn nodded and shook hands with her, returning eye contact. Her voice was sweet and cheerful.  
“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too. I’m Katelyn. Yesterday was a rush to pack up and head into space, wasn’t it? Didn’t have any time to really meet anybody else I’d be spending a long time with.”  
“Yeah, it was so fast! Maybe as we start our tasks today, we could walk around and meet each other, since I don’t think icebreakers or anything like that would be possible,” Aphmau replied, glancing around the table. “There’s a lot to manage, now that we’re on a ship… What’s your job?”  
Katelyn paused, lips parted and eyes wandering as she thought about how to answer. Closing her mouth again, she opened the breast pocket flap of her own blue spacesuit, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. After a moment of rustling paper and chuckling from the shorter woman, Katelyn faced her again.  
“Electrician is my assigned job here, but there’s other stuff I can do too.” She tossed her bangs out of her face with a swish of her head.  
Aphmau’s face was humorous, with a scrunched nose and pursed, smiling lips. “Did you forget what you came here for?” Her tone was lighthearted. Nonetheless, Katelyn furrowed her brow, gently nudging her with her shoulder.  
“No, I just needed to check what I had to do today… if I had other tasks in other roles, I would have specified that! It would have looked weird if I said I worked in electric and then was only seen, like… cleaning up all day!”  
“That would have looked strange, but it still sounds like you forgot.” A third feminine voice piped up from the other side of Katelyn. Turning her head, she saw it was a woman with fiery orange hair in a matching tangerine spacesuit. Her face was well done in makeup, and because she removed her gloves, polished red nails were visible on her clean, soft-looking hands, which were folded in her lap.  
“I didn’t forget!” Katelyn continued to protest rather stubbornly. “Who are you, anyway?”  
The elegant woman grinned. “My name’s Lucinda. I’ll be working in the medical bay, as the nurse. Pleased to meet you, Katelyn and Aphmau.”  
Katelyn nodded, reminding herself that starting petty arguments in a confined space for long periods of time won’t ever end up well. “Yeah, nice to meet you too…”  
A short breath later, Katelyn checked the time on the clock above the main entrance of the cafeteria. ‘I’ve been here a while,’ she thought, biting her lip.  
“I think I’ll get my day started. See you guys later, yeah?” she asked, glancing between her two new friends and standing from the table. As she stood, she gathered her leftover meal into her hands.  
“Bye! Have a good day at work, sweetie!” Aphmau snickered, dramatically blowing her a kiss. Katelyn rolled her eyes and gave the back of her head an elbow-nudge, unable to hide her grin as she turned and disposed of her trash. Heading out of the cafeteria, she heard various noises of the others following in her course of action.

A right turn or two later, and Katelyn was in the electrical room.  
“Yikes… It’s dark in here.”  
Katelyn scanned the room quickly for anything out of the ordinary, and then slowly paced inwards, her hand stroking the wall in search of a light switch. “Not there… damn, where is it-”  
The lights snapped on with a flick of her curled finger, illuminating several consoles, a few coils of wires, a bucket of assorted tools, and a shelf containing safety items such as a face shield and thick rubber-insulated gloves, but most of all:  
“Dust.”  
Katelyn sighed softly, removing her spacesuit’s gloves and tossing them on the top of a nearby console, erupting a cloud of dust bunnies into the air. Reflexively, she sneezed, mentally noting to not do that again until the room was clean.  
“Alright, looks like the first thing I have to do is wipe down.” Yanking a hair tie off her wrist and pulling her hair into a ponytail. After tucking her loose bangs and flyaways behind her ears, she went around the room, opening cabinets and panels in search of wet wipes.  
A search of ten minutes turned up fruitless.  
“Damn…” Katelyn sighed, standing up from her previous kneeling position and wiping her hands off, free of any dust. “Guess I could go around and ask.”  
Leaving the room with the door open and lights on, she wandered down the hallways, towards a rumbling noise from another section of the ship.

The rumbling only grew louder as Katelyn headed down the hallway. On the wall, there was a word painted in bright yellow pigment:  
ENGINE  
A few feet forward confirmed that. A giant, shaking piece of machinery stood in the center of the room, a few puffs of steam released from it periodically.  
In the corner of the room, huddled around a small control panel, knelt two large men. One was in a red spacesuit, and the other in a bright, lighter blue than Katelyn’s dark blue one.  
Katelyn paced towards them, picking up snippets of their conversation over the roar of the engine.  
“Press that one-... doesn’t it go to-... no, we-... more gas?-...”  
Closer still, Katelyn gently tapped their shoulders. “Hey, uh-”  
The men simultaneously whipped around by the waist to face her, startling her. She stepped back a bit, taking a large breath to settle her surprised nerves.  
“Hey, what’s going on?” asked the guy in the cyan suit, as his partner turned back to the controls, pushing a few more buttons. His voice was deep and gruff, and his eyes matched his bright blue spacesuit. His hair was a mess of short blond curls, and his pale skin was rubbed with dirt in spots. “I don’t think we’ve introduced ourselves, the name’s Garroth.” He extended an ungloved hand forward, skin scuffed and dirty like the front of his suit and parts of his face.  
“Hi, I’m Katelyn… sorry to interrupt, I’m just looking for wet wipes to clean up my area so I can work.” She shook his hand firmly, once--the way her brothers taught her. “You guys got any?”  
“Ah, wipes… I don’t think so, not as far as I know…” Garroth shook his head, eyes glancing around the room before he turned and gently tapped the back of his hand to his partner’s shoulder. “Hey, Aaron, you know if we have any cleaning wipes around here?”  
The man in the red suit--Aaron--lifted his head to look between Katelyn and Garroth, shaking his head afterwards. His dark hair suited his dark eyes, his whole energy matching that of a “lone wolf”.  
“Hm, I guess not, no. Sorry, Katelyn!” Garroth returned his gaze back up at her, shrugging. “At least I used my words to tell you that, unlike someone else here. Anyway, if I had to guess where some wet wipes are-” he paused, jabbing his thumb towards the hallway on the other side of the room, “-I’d say probably in the medical ward or the cafeteria.”  
Katelyn nodded, tightening her ponytail. “Great, thank you!” she replied, lightly jogging down the hallway he gestured to.

On her way to the medical bay, Katelyn came across another large room with a large machine in it. She slowed her pace, peeking in to see if she could spot anyone. The room appeared empty, with just the large machine grumbling. It was surrounded by a few control stands, each with several arrays of buttons and switches.  
Looking up at the doorway, Katelyn spotted (in the same yellow paint):  
REACTOR  
“Hm, wonder who works here…” Katelyn shrugged it off and continued down the hallway.

A minute later, a bright room with open doors appeared. The interior was mostly white and metallic, with a few cots lined near the door and more machines towards the back. Katelyn headed inside, scanning the room and concluding that this is medical.  
True to her word, Lucinda was in the back of the room, standing in front of a stretch of countertops. She appeared to be mixing various liquids from small tubes, and she looked very busy about it. She hadn’t noticed Katelyn enter.  
However, she wasn’t alone before Katelyn showed up. Sitting on one of the cots was a man in a green spacesuit. He was holding an ice pack to his forehead, the only details noticeable about him were his cocoa skin and snow white hair. He was speaking in Lucinda’s direction, with his back towards the door and the silent visitor.  
“I really wasn’t expecting this on my first real day here, heh… I guess I got too excited,” he commented. His voice was bright and warm, with a mellow energy. Lucinda shook her head gently from her position, a light chuckle bubbling from her.  
“I’m sure you were excited, since you banged your head in one of the most spacious rooms of the whole ship,” Lucinda replied, glancing over her shoulder at him. “That must take skill-oh, hey Katelyn!”  
“Oh, yeah… Hey, hope I’m not interrupting.” Katelyn, upon sudden acknowledgement, stepped further inside the medical bay, arms loosely crossed as she looked around the room.  
“No, you’re not interrupting at all! I’m just fixing something up here to fix up a scrape.” Lucinda nodded towards the man on the cot, a friendly grin on her face as she swished a vial with one hand, leaning against the counter.  
Katelyn turned to face him, stepping forward with a hand extended to shake. He had set down the ice pack next to him, already looking up at her. His eyes were a vibrant emerald green and his lips were pressed into a smirk. “Hey, it’s nice to-”  
“Well, well, well! And to whom do I owe this pleasure?” He purred, his hand taking her own. However, instead of shaking, he gently pulled her downwards and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand, gaze meeting hers with a raised eyebrow.  
“Uh… I’m Katelyn…” Pulling her hand away from him, she stepped backwards and rested her hands on her hips, standing upright again. Eyes narrowed, Katelyn looks him up and down, a slight hint of displeasure on her face. “And you are…?”  
“Ah, the name’s Travis, but you can call me whatever you want, beautiful!” His grin didn’t fade as he shot her a wink, leaning against the wall in his seated position. Lucinda, from the other side of the room, snickered, and then tried to cover it with a cough into her elbow.  
Katelyn shot her a glare from the side, then stared down at Travis, eyes meeting his. She tilted her head as she shifted her weight into one leg, one hand still on her hip as she dropped the other. “Does that mean I can call you Playboy? I think it suits you.”  
“Well, that’s not really what I was thinking… but I’ll take it!” Travis laughed as he scooped up the ice pack again, setting it against his forehead with a soft wince. “Nicknames from pretty ladies always make me happy.”  
Katelyn opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it and turned to Lucinda instead. “I came here for cleaning wipes, Lucinda… do you have any?”  
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Lucinda set down the vial and knelt in front of a cabinet, opening it and rummaging around. As Katelyn approached behind her, she stood up once more, holding a package of wipes.  
“Here, you can keep that one for yourself,” she said, placing the container into her hands. Katelyn nodded, looking the container over.  
“Thanks, I’ll see you around.” She turned on her heels and strode out of the room, glancing at Travis once more as she passed him. His eyes met hers for a moment, but after her head was turned again, he watched her backside the rest of the way out.

Out of the medical bay, Katelyn took a breath and headed down the hallway in the direction she hadn’t come from, wipes tucked under her arm. She passed through the cafeteria, a room labeled “WEAPONS” and another room marked “O2” before hearing more voices.  
“These shifts are long…”  
“We don’t have to stay there the entire time, y’know-”  
“Well, I know that! But it’s still a long time!”  
Katelyn stepped into the room, taking a moment to read the paint on the wall near the doorway.  
NAVIGATION  
Once inside the room, Katelyn could see a singular wide control panel in front of a giant window, showing space as far as the eye could see. Seated in the pilot’s seat was a man with auburn hair and a yellow suit, and he was talking with another man in a white suit and deep blue hair who was standing next to him. Their discussion wasn’t sour, but it was heated.  
“I’m just saying, couldn’t we maybe half the shifts? I could do morning to noon, you can do afternoon to evening, I’ll do evening to midnight, and you’ll do early morning! Wouldn’t that be nicer?” Argued the blue-haired man.  
“Well, not really, because then our sleeping hours and the rest of our breaks would be separated into smaller chunks of time than just one solid block per day!” refuted the dark skinned guy in the yellow suit. He paused and spun in the chair, grabbing a piece of paper on the console in front of him, but stopping and looking up to see Katelyn standing there. “Hold on, I’ll grab my schedule and show you-oh, hello…”  
Katelyn, glancing between the two of them, gave a one handed wave as she stepped in further. “Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, just wanted to see what was going on. I’m Katelyn, by the way, I’m working in electric.”  
“Oh, yeah, I’m Dante, and this is Laurence! Nice to meet ya, Katelyn!” The blue-haired man stepped forward, hand extended, and Laurence followed suit. Katelyn reached over and shook both of their hands, grinning.  
“So, what are your guys’ jobs? Or is it to stand here and argue?” she chuckled, swapping arms that were holding the wipes. Laurence laughed with her, leaning back in the pilot’s chair.  
“I almost wish my job was to stand around and argue, but no… I’m primarily the pilot here, and Dante is the co-pilot for when I’m off.” Laurence’s voice was chill, soft, and soothing, which matched his demeanor well.  
Dante nodded, leaning on the back of the chair with an arm propping him up. “Yeah, I also hang out around weapons, but I don’t miss many opportunities to prove to Laurence why he’s wrong.” He warmly ruffles Laurence’s hair, his bright eyes housing a joking manner. Laurence swats his hand off him.  
“Don’t act like you’re above me, you jerk, you’re younger than me.”  
Katelyn observed their interaction, noting the friendly feeling. “You two knew each other before this?”  
“Huh? Oh, yeah, Dante, Garroth and I were roommates before this whole mission. Studied all this stuff together, and ended up on the same mission together! Funny how it works out, isn’t it?” Laurence grinned as he explained, pausing for a moment afterwards. “Wait, have you met Garroth yet?”  
Katelyn nodded, tilting her head towards the engine room. “Yeah, in the engine room… I guess it’s nice to know we have a small group we can trust on things.”  
“Yep, don’t worry about any of that! We know how to tell if each other is lying. Especially Dante, he’s a terrible liar.”  
“Hey! I’m not a bad liar!” Dante pushed Laurence’s head down, half grinning and half faking an annoyed expression. “You guys just get lucky when you guess if I’m lying or not.”  
“Uh huh… well, anyway, I’ll be in electrical if you guys need me.” Katelyn waved and continued on her way, looping around the ship towards her work room.  
She passed a dark room, sparing only a glance inside before ignoring it. Before she could get too far, however, she heard a few whispers, prompting her to stop and peek back inside.

Nothing out of the ordinary was seen inside, except for a glowing screen and two people. Curious, Katelyn stepped inside, snapping on the lights. “Who’s in here?”  
Upon the sudden lights, two sharp gasps erupted from the people. Katelyn recognized one of them as Aphmau, and the other was another short girl in a pink spacesuit. Both girls faced her, surprised expressions on their faces.  
“Oh, it’s just Katelyn… you scared us!” Aphmau scolded lightly, standing upright again and heading over to her, gently taking her arm and leading her inside towards the unknown girl. “You probably don’t know who she is yet… this is Kawaii~Chan!”  
Kawaii~Chan, as she was just introduced, bounced to her feet and smiled sweetly. Her caramel skin matched with her honey eyes and pastel pink hair reminded Katelyn of a sugary dessert. Plus, she appeared to have cat ears. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Katelyn~Sama!” Her voice was high-pitched and a bit sugary, just like her appearance.  
“It’s nice to meet you too, Kawaii~Chan… what were you two doing in here that needed total darkness and whispering?” Katelyn asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at them. The two ladies giggled sheepishly, glancing at each other before back up at Katelyn.  
“Well,” began Aphmau. “We were… um… discussing the others here…”  
“Specifically, who would look cute together!” Kawaii~Chan pitched in, her smile growing as she clasped her hands together on her chest.  
Katelyn blinked, a little surprised by the answer she was given. “Well… uh… that’s unexpected.”  
“Well, we have to entertain ourselves somehow, don’t we! I’m just stuck here, watching the communications, and it’s boring!” Aphmau sighed, sitting on the desk and swinging her legs. “You should chat with us!”  
Katelyn glanced at the door, then back to the girls. “Thanks, but I have work to do-”  
“Aww, okay… maybe tonight, we can have a girls time in our room!” Kawaii~Chan bubbled excitedly, swaying her head. ‘She’s super energetic,’ she thought.  
“...Yeah, sure. Bye guys, I’ll see you then.” Katelyn turned and headed into the hallway again, heading down the hallway. As she walked, she fully realized what she had just gotten herself into, and sighed softly as she marched on.

Finally back in electrical, Katelyn popped the cap off the container of wipes and went around the room for ten or so minutes, cleaning the surfaces of all dust and dirt.  
Once the room was sparkly clean, she huffed and set the container of wipes down. “Alright, time to work.”  
Her first task of the day was to rewire the admin controls and where the information was sent. So, she knelt in front of the panel labeled “Admin” and opened it up.  
“Yikes…” she grimaced, scanning over the tangled mess of wires. “Why did they even send us up here with this bad of a system…”  
“Oh well. Time to sort it out.”

Hours passed, and Katelyn finally finished the rerouting of wires. At this point, the tedious work led her to removing the undershirt of her spacesuit and tying the arms of the suit around her waist, all to prevent her from sweating through her layers.  
Leaning back into a sitting position, she exhaled deeply and wiped her forehead with her hand. “Done… finally.”  
After resting for a moment, Katelyn stood up and grabbed her toolbox from the floor, turning on her heels. She set the toolbox on top of a console, and then turned to head out of the room. As she lifted her head, she noticed the figure of another person standing in the doorway.  
A sharp gasp escaped her lips as her eyes flew open wider, blinking in surprise as she stopped her movement short.  
“Ah-my bad-” she began, but was cut short by their arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her body closer to theirs. She tried to identify who it was, thinking: ‘Green suit-oh. Travis.’  
And Travis it was. “No apology necessary, cutie!” he flirted, wearing his familiar grin. His arm was gently but firmly holding her body against his own, his fingers curled around her hip.  
Katelyn huffed a bit, giving him a light glare as she lifted her hands and pushed on his chest to free herself. As she applied pressure, his grip on her hip and waist tightened. “Let me go, Travis.”  
“But you’re so warm, and space is so cold!” He stuck out his lower lip and gave her puppy eyes, tilting his head down to lock eyes with her. “Not even a wittle shnuggle time?”  
Katelyn pushed harder, stepping backwards after feeling his grip reluctantly release. Remembering her current clothing situation, she grabbed her undershirt from the floor and pulled it back on over her head. ‘Well, that’s embarrassing…’ “No time for snuggling in space. How long have you been standing there, anyway?”  
Travis chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his neck as he averted eye contact. “Um… not a long time…” he mumbled.  
After poking her head out of her shirt and pulling it down, Katelyn raised an eyebrow as she stared him down. Her silence said a lot, and her gaze made his cheeks darken.  
“I swear! Not a long time… I didn’t have a lot of work today, so I was just… wandering around, I guess,” he muttered, meeting her eyes again and stuffing his hands into his pockets.  
“Uh huh, sure,” Katelyn nodded, untying the sleeves of her suit from around her waist and slipping her arms back into them. “And it had nothing to do with the fact that I was working without a shirt on?”  
Travis’s cheeks grew darker as he pursed his lips and glanced at the ground. “...No…”  
“Mmhm.” Katelyn zipped up her suit again, letting her hair out of it’s ponytail and grabbing her gloves. She snapped the lights of the room off and stepped around him to leave the room, and Travis followed at her heel.  
Down the hall, Katelyn slowed her pace as she spotted another figure, making its way to the sleeping quarters. Katelyn looked over her shoulder at Travis, who nearly collided with her as she slowed.  
“Hey, pay attention, dork!” she whispered, nodding at the person down the hall. “Who’s that?”  
Travis brushed his hair out of his face, squinting a bit to make out who the figure was.  
“Oh,” he replied. “That’s Zane. I take it you haven’t met him yet?”  
Katelyn shook her head, and he continued to speak. “He works in security, and he’s… kind of grumpy, actually. I guess you could describe him as ‘emo’, but he’s hung out in that tiny camera room all day, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know who he was until now.”  
“Gotcha,” she said, watching Zane head into the men’s quarters. She resumed her walk to the women’s quarters, Travis continuing to follow her.  
Once at the women’s sleeping quarters, Katelyn placed her hand on the door handle. She paused, turning to Travis as she took a breath.  
“I’ll… see you tomorrow?” she asked, brushing her bangs out of her face with her free hand.  
Travis shot her a goofy grin, nodding and fluffing up his hair. “First thing in the morning!”  
Katelyn nodded, turning and heading inside the room, shutting the door behind her as he headed off elsewhere.

“Katelyn!”  
Aphmau looked up from the floor, smiling as she saw her enter. “Just in time for girls’ night! Take a seat!”  
Katelyn took a quick glance around the room, noting the pillows set in a circle on the floor space in the center of the room. Between each bed was a nightstand with a digital, 24-hour clock on top, and on the wall opposite the door was two dressers, each with four drawers. An open pillow was left on the floor beside Kawaii~Chan and Aphmau, across from Lucinda.  
Taking her seat, Katelyn crossed her legs and sighed. “Feels nice to sit on something other than metal today.” ‘Cafeteria benches and the floor of the ship aren't exactly comfortable.’  
“Well, now that you’re here, we can officially start the girls’ night!” Aphmau smiled, crossing her ankles behind her from her kneeling position. “We were just talking about our jobs here on the ship-wait, do you know everyone here yet?”  
“Yep, met everyone today… well, I met almost everyone. I just got a run-down about that guy in security.” Katelyn shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulders. “But, yeah, I know everyone enough.”  
“Good! We should try and make friends here, since we’re all stuck together for a while!” Kawaii~Chan cooed. She had taken off her pink spacesuit and was now wearing a loose pajama set. It looked silky, and it was a cream color with pink flowers embroidered on the edges. Now that her suit was off, Katelyn could see a black cat tail that matched her black cat ears, and the tail had a pink bow tied around it. For a moment, she wondered if the tail and ears were real.  
“Don’t be careless… we can’t make friends as easily here as we’d like to, remember?” Lucinda’s scolding voice caught Katelyn’s attention. “We have an imposter among ourselves.”  
A silence filled the room as the girls stared at Lucinda, and then each other. Simultaneously, they remembered the announcement from early that morning.  
“Well, just because one of us isn’t really working with us, that doesn’t mean that we can’t get to know the rest of us,” Aphmau pitched in, interrupting the tension. “Plus, the more we get used to each other, the better we can work together to find out who it is!”  
“I guess so, but it’s still dangerous to go around alone. We have to remember that we aren’t as safe as we originally signed up for.” Lucinda leaned against the end of a bed, pulling her hair over one shoulder and braiding it.  
“We… don’t have to talk about this right now, do we? It’s the first day, Kawaii~Chan doesn’t think anything bad will happen so soon…” Kawaii~Chan asked, playing with her tail in a nervous fashion. “We can talk about something happier for now, right?”  
Aphmau nodded, eager to redirect the conversation. “Yeah, let’s do that! Let’s, uh… let’s talk about the guys!” she suggested, smiling again.  
Katelyn nodded, a bit absentmindedly. Her gaze was on the floor in front of her, thinking the whole ‘imposter’ situation over. “Um, sure, I guess…” she mumbled, wondering why Kawaii~Chan speaks in third person.  
“Great! So, wouldn’t it be fun to play a bit of matchmaker?” Aphmau sat up on her knees a bit to flop back down into a crossed-legged position. “Lucinda, if you had to pick any guy here, who would it be?”  
Lucinda gave the question a moment of thought, tapping her lips with one finger. After a minute, she sat upright again. “Travis.”  
“Ooh!” Kawaii~Chan giggled, clapping her hands softly. “You two would be cute!-”  
“Really? *That* guy?” Katelyn couldn’t stop herself from interjecting, raising her eyebrows at Lucinda. All three girls turned to her, three very similar teasing expressions on their faces.  
“Got a problem with that, Katelyn?” Lucinda snickered, tying off her braid with a hair tie.  
Katelyn glanced between the three of them, sighing and rolling her eyes. “No, it’s not like that, shut up. It’s just…” She paused, waving her hand in the air as if to help her figure out how to word what she wanted to say. “He seems like such a flirt… and a pervert.”  
“Well, I’m not surprised you see him that way!” Lucinda responded, gesturing to Katelyn with a sly grin. “I mean, look at you! If I was into women, I’d probably flirt with you, too!”  
Lucinda’s comments bring a flush to Katelyn’s face, which she tries to subdue by pursing her lips and looking down. “This isn’t some reality show, it’s a space mission… I didn’t come here to date!”  
“Why not make this a reality show!” Aphmau laughs. “If the situation is as dire as it is, why not have some fun with it? Enjoy being the next Bachelorette, Katie!”  
“Kawaii~Chan thinks that Aphmau~Senpai would look cute with Aaron~Kun!” Kawaii~Chan derailed the topic with a cutesy smile. Aphmau, upon the mention of her name, blushed and dropped her giddy grin.  
“See, not so fun to be the next Bachelorette, is it?” Katelyn joked, nudging Aphmau with her elbow with a smirk as her own blush faded. Lucinda chuckled at the comment as Aphmau’s face flushed deeper.  
“That’s… quite the height difference between the two of you!” commented Lucinda, waving a hand well above Aphmau’s head.  
“Hey!” Aphmau scrunched her nose at Lucinda, sitting up tall with her head high. “I’m not that short!”  
The comment warranted a collective chuckle between the three other ladies.  
“You’re pretty teeny,” teased Katelyn. “No offense, though… if anything, I’m sure the guys would be more into you because of it, if that’s what you’re after.”  
“W-well… Kawaii~Chan’s been getting it easy! Who could we match her with?” Aphmau quickly asked, stumbling over her words in an attempt to shift the focus. “I think Zane.”  
“Zane?!” Lucinda’s jaw dropped in surprise as she stared at Aphmau with wide eyes. “Are you… sure?”  
“Well, think about it!” Aphmau insisted, turning to Kawaii~Chan. “Cutesy girl, grumpy guy… perfect match!”  
“Either that, or some goofy dude,” Katelyn mentioned. Aphmau and Lucinda nodded in response.  
“Like who, Laurence?” Asked Aphmau.  
Lucinda shook her head. “No, Dante.”  
“Kawaii~Chan? Any preference?” Aphmau asked, turning to face her. Kawaii~Chan, in turn, blushed deeper and shook her head.  
“Kawaii~Chan’s never really thought about who she’d like to be matched with…” she mumbled shyly, looking away. The other girls laughed, spirits lifting from the tense conversation earlier.  
“Well, start thinking!” Lucinda snickered, yawning after. “Yikes, it’s late… I hope we didn’t keep the guys up.”  
“Eh, whatever… they could be talking about us, for all we know!” Aphmau mentioned, standing up and getting settled in one of the beds. The other three girls followed suit, and soon they were all in bed.  
The digital clocks flashed 23:43 from their positions on the nightstands as the women fell asleep, hearing the soft blowing air from the vents and the silence that filled the ship.


	2. Downhill From Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rising tensions oooooh u wanna read so bad  
> (this should be written okay? hope so at least...)

Travis POV:  
The digital clock next to his bed blinked 5:36 as Travis woke up. He sat up, arms raised in a stretch, and yawned, wincing as forehead throbbed from his injury yesterday. He rubbed his eyes and scanned the room.  
In the bed across from him, he could faintly see Dante, asleep. The other four beds in the room were unoccupied. The layout of the room was similar to the girls’, but with three beds lining opposite walls and nightstands in between them. The only light in the room at the moment was through the crack under the door.  
Sighing softly, Travis shifted his body to the edge of the bed and stood up. He changed out of his sleep clothes and into his work clothes and spacesuit, using the mirror in the corner of the room to mess with his hair.  
“Wish we had some hair gel…” he mumbled, flicking strands out of his face. “Just glad I don’t have a cow lick from sleeping.”  
Careful as to not wake up Dante--who had the night shift of piloting--Travis snuck out of the room quietly, shutting the door behind him softly. Then, he turned and made his way down the hall to collect his tasks for the day.

Chatter came from down the hall, along with a group of footsteps on the metal plate flooring. Curious, Travis followed, trying to meet up with whoever it was.   
Rounding the corner, he could see it was a small group consisting of Lucinda, Aphmau, Garroth, and Aaron, all heading in the same direction he was. He decided to catch up, switching from walking to a light jog.  
“Hey guys!” he greeted them, smiling brightly.   
“Morning, man,” Garroth grinned at him, slowing his own pace to match with Travis. “Not much else we can do today until we get our jobs for the day, y’know?”  
“We could just not take them…” Aphmau snickered, shrugging. “No work for us!”  
The lighthearted jokes continued until the group arrived in the communications room. Before they even entered, however, the room had a strange red glow from the monitors.  
“Uh oh…” Aphmau muttered, rushing inside and taking a seat at the desk. “The software crashed last night, when it was supposed to be updating the check-ins to assign us tasks…”  
The rest of the group entered the room behind her, standing in a circle around the desk where Aphmau was working.  
“That… doesn’t sound good,” Aaron commented, stepping forward and leaning down over her shoulder, watching the screen. “Does that mean we won’t have our tasks for the day?”  
“No, we will, as soon as I can fix this,” Aphmau shook her head, eyes focused on the screen as she opened a program and messed with it a bit. “This isn’t a huge problem, really… unless some huge crisis happened last night, of course… but otherwise, we’ll just get our tasks in a little while here, that’s all.”  
“You’re smart, Aph, you’ll figure it out!” Garroth grinned from her other side, leaning against the desk and watching her work.   
“Yeah, no rush or anything! I’ll, uh, wait outside so you have some space!” Travis extended his hand out to Lucinda, leaning into a half bow with a grin. “Lucinda, care to join me?”  
“I’d love to! We’ll be outside if you need us, Aph!” Lucinda smiled, taking his hand and walking out with him. Travis couldn’t help but glance down at her body as she led him out of the room.

Once outside, Travis twirled Lucinda using their clasped hands, smiling as he heard her laugh. He headed back down the hallway they came from, hand still in hers.  
“Hey, Travis, how’s your head?” she asked, glancing at him as they walked. “Since you hit it yesterday, I mean.”  
Travis chuckled, running his free hand through his hair, exposing a soft bruise on his forehead. “It’s not too bad… it feels better today than yesterday.”  
“You should be more careful, your job is pretty dangerous! Minor injuries could make it harder to do your work,” Lucinda insisted, reaching up and gently running her thumb over the bruise. “If it was an open cut, that might have been a little concerning… The reactor looks incredibly dirty, after all.”  
“I’m telling ya, I’m fine! I’m not THAT clumsy!”   
“Well, just in case you ARE that clumsy again, you know where to find me.”  
“You got it, mama.” Travis smiled down at her, chuckling lightly. “I’ll let you kiss it better, if you want…”  
Lucinda gently nudged him in the waist, matching his smile. 

The pair arrived in the cafeteria, being the first to sit down at the circular table. The only other person around was Zane, who was at the counter near the back. He was standing in front of the coffee machine, and he shot them a quick glance before silently taking his mug of coffee and leaving the room.  
“I guess he’s busy, huh?” Travis commented, tilting his head in Zane’s direction as he met eyes with Lucinda.   
“Seems like it. I’ve heard that he stays in security most of the day, but I wouldn’t know if that’s true or not,” she replied, crossing one leg over the other at the table. She sat with great posture, her back straight and shoulders back, hands folded in her lap.  
“That seems kind of pointless to me. I mean, there really isn’t a lot to watch for…” Travis shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well… nevermind.” ‘I guess there is…’  
“Yeah, it’s… not exactly safe here.” Lucinda’s eyes darted to the entrances of the cafeteria before returning her gaze to Travis. “No matter what happens… we can work together, right? We won’t fail the mission.”  
“Of course we won’t fail!” Travis smiled down at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I have a feeling that if the ‘imposter’ was as dangerous as we were told, something bad would have already happened. We just… need to trust each other!”  
As he spoke, others entered the cafeteria and grabbed food from the cupboards. As they sat down, one by one, Travis noticed that everyone was there, except Dante and Zane. ‘Well, I know where Zane went… and Dante is still asleep, jeez.’  
“You two seem comfortable with each other,” commented Laurence as he sat down across from the pair. In response, the corner of Travis’s mouth twitched up as he winked.   
“Hey, everyone here is all we’ve got for a while, y’know! Might as well get to know one another!” he replied, removing his arm from across Lucinda’s shoulders. Lucinda gave him a half smile with pursed lips before turning back to the group.  
“Space or not, PDA isn’t cool.” Katelyn spoke with her head down, reading her task list.  
“Hey, where did you get that? Is the computer fixed already?” Garroth asked, sipping from a package afterwards.  
Katelyn just shrugged. “Aph gave it to me. I didn’t even know it was broken, honestly… I slept in a bit.”  
“Gettin’ your beauty sleep, Katie?” Aphmau cooed from next to her, grinning. Katelyn nudged her with her shoulder without looking up, and Aphmau laughed as she passed out the rest of the task lists.  
‘Not like she needs it,’ Travis thought, standing up and grabbing his own meal. He picked up a few packages and read the labels before choosing one.  
“Are any of these foods appetizing?!” he exclaimed, huffing a bit in playful annoyance as he sat back down. “This is just a lump of so-called ‘meat’!”  
“Well, Kawaii~Chan is in charge of food management,” Kawaii~Chan piped up from her place at the table. “We can get a supply of fresh foods in a little while, depending how long we’re all here…”  
“Fresh foods?” Aphmau asked, turning to face her.  
“Mhm! Fruits, vegetables, things like that… we have to eat them fast, before they spoil, but for now we have to deal with dehydrated, thermostabilized, dried, and packaged foods.” Kawaii~Chan paused a moment. “Oh, but Travis~Kun, if you’d like some real meat, the best that Kawaii~Chan has is beef jerky, in the far left cabinet.”  
“Oh, that’s good to know… I’ll have to remember that,” Travis grinned, pleased to hear that he wouldn’t be stuck eating the food he had now.  
The cafeteria fell quieter as everyone ate. Travis ate quicker than normal, trying to avoid the lingering taste of the food. Once finished, he threw out his trash as the others did the same and left. However, Travis stayed behind a bit to check if the beef jerky was actually there, as Kawaii~Chan had said. A few minutes of rummaging confirmed that it was, and he left the cafeteria with a grin.

The hallways were empty as Travis made his way through them towards the reactor. He passed through the storage room, turning his head to eye a large stack of crates. He slowed his pace and decided to investigate them out of curiosity.  
As he circled the crates, he nearly collided with someone. He jerked his body back on instinct to avoid hitting them.  
“S-Sorry!” they squeaked. The high-pitched voice revealed the person to be Kawaii~Chan, cheeks darkened and eyes wide. “Are you alright, Travis~Kun?”  
“Yeah, yeah… I’m alright, don’t worry about me!” Travis replied, gently ruffling her hair with his usual grin as he caught his breath. “Just startled me, that’s all. Uh… do you know what’s in these crates?”  
“Oh!” she shook her head to return her bangs across her forehead, and then nodded. “Yes, the crates are full of, um… pretty much everything we might need! Tools, freeze-dried food, clothes, oxygen tanks, space suits, replacement parts… a lot of stuff!”  
“Wow… that is a lot. I hope we won’t need to replace things that often!” Travis gave a dry chuckle as he looked the crates up and down. “Well… I have to go start my work, see ya around!”  
Travis turned and headed down the hall with a quick wave. As he walked, he shoved his hands into his pockets, fiddling with his task list as he thought. ‘It would be really unpleasant if those crates fell… a huge mess, and we might lose some valuable stuff… could there be anything in there to help the imposter-’  
Upon the thought of the imposter, Travis felt a shiver crawl up his spine, and he stopped abruptly in the hallway. A light sweat crept across his forehead as his eyes locked onto the floor, even though his vision had started to blur. A second passed, and he took a deep breath, snapping himself back to reality..  
‘I guess I just… realized the situation I’m in,’ he thought, wiping his brow with his sleeve as he continues his march down the hallway, towards the reactor.

Once inside the reactor, Travis sighed and grabbed his work gloves from on top of the front console. He walks a lap around the reactor, checking the gauges and contents.  
“Temp’s good… GPHS is good… seems stable for now, that’s good. Let’s see if you’ll last as long as the other RTG systems…” Travis lightly patted the side of the reactor. “... Why am I talking to the reactor.”  
Travis shook his head at himself as he grabbed his tools and began to do some simple maintenance. He checked the tightness of nuts, cleaned the parts, and checked the plutonium dioxide production for a short while, before his focus was interrupted.

A shout rang through the hallway, making Travis jump. He dropped his wrench, which made a loud clang on the ground, as he ran into the hallway to locate the source of the yell. He caught a string of curses and followed them into the upper engine.  
As he entered the room, Travis’s gaze landed on a group of three surrounding the control panel of the engine. Aaron and Garroth were seated to the sides of Katelyn, who was holding her gloved hand in a crumpled position on the floor, swearing like a sailor. The guys had concerned expressions as they asked questions, clearly not sure what to do.  
“What’s going on here?” Travis asked, stepping further inside and kneeling down in their circle.  
“We-we were having engine issues, so we asked Katelyn to take a look at it, and I think she got shocked!” Garroth’s voice was full of panic as the words just fell out. Travis didn’t know what to do either, but he wasn’t about to sit there and contribute nothing.  
“Okay, uh… first, breathe, stay calm!” he instructed. Garroth immediately started inhaling and exhaling deeply, and Aaron shot him a look.  
“Garroth, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t meant for you.”  
Katelyn’s flow of swear words stopped, replaced with wincing and seething. Travis gently lifted her off the ground, leaning her body against his chest. He peered over her shoulder while carefully taking her hand in his to examine her wound. As he pulled her glove off, blood dripped from her wrist. The injury was coated in white blisters over discolored, singed skin. Travis held back a grimace from the grotesque sight.  
“Ah, this looks… bad…” he muttered, glancing around for anything to help. Katelyn pulled her hand away from him, using her other hand to prop herself up into a sitting position.   
“I’m… f-fine, I’ll be fine,” she hissed through clenched teeth, looking at her own wound. “I can wrap it later… the loose wire just got under my glove…”  
“No, you’ll wrap it now!” Travis insisted, wrapping his arms around her again. He stood up, holding her close to him, adjusting his hold on her so one arm was around her back, and the other under her legs. “You’re going to medbay, whether you like it or not! You can finish the job later. Can you guys clean up around here?”  
Garroth nodded in agreement, standing up and picking up her tools, heading out to return them to electric. Aaron followed suit, shutting the wire panel on the console and moving the wire bundles to the side of the room.  
Katelyn, obviously annoyed at being carried, was glaring up at Travis. Surprisingly, she wasn’t putting up as much of a fight as he was prepared for. As the guys cleaned up, Travis turned and carried her out of the room, towards medbay.

“You don’t need to carry me,” Katelyn grumbled, averting her eyes to the hallway ahead of them. “I can walk myself.”  
“Can you really?” Travis asked with a raised eyebrow. He stopped walking and gently set her down on her feet, staying near her.  
Katelyn held her wounded wrist up to her chest as she started to walk towards medbay. However, her steps weren’t solid, and she was swaying. Travis observed her for not even ten seconds before scooping her up once again, ignoring her various protesting noises.  
“Nope, you’re not stable,” he told her. Katelyn huffed in reply, surrendering to his grasp.  
“Who cares if I’m not stable? I can still get there on my own… you’re just wasting your time.”  
Travis hummed a bit, shaking his head. “Mm… no, it’s not wasting my time… I get to carry around a pretty lady like a Prince Charming or something!” He chuckled and gently hefted her up, readjusting his grip.  
“Ah.” Katelyn’s voice was devoid of amusement. “So that’s why you did this.”  
“Well, why would I waste an opportunity to carry you around like a beautiful prize I won?” he asked, a hint of a grin on his lips. “There’s plenty of upsides. I get to show you how much I work out, first of all! And, y’know… you’re hurt, so it would be awful to just leave you there…”  
A moment of silence washed over them, just long enough to make Travis rethink his words. ‘Did I say something wrong?’  
“You think you could let me down before we get inside medbay?” Katelyn asked. “I don’t want Lucinda to see… y’know, this…”  
“What, you’d be embarrassed?” Travis replied, his lopsided grin returning. “Or you just don’t want Lucinda feeling jealous?”  
“I just don’t want her getting the wrong idea!” Katelyn’s tone had annoyance laced into it, her brow furrowing as she glanced back at him.   
Travis responded with only a chuckle as he stepped inside medbay, still carrying her in his arms.

“Lu~cinda!” he called out in a sing-song tone, his grip on Katelyn tightening again. As she struggled a bit, pushing against his chest, the corners of his mouth twitched up. “I have a patient for you!”  
Lucinda turned around, lightly pressing her fingers to her lips to hide her smile. “I see that… well, have a seat and I’ll see what I can do for her!”  
Travis gave her a curt nod as he sat down on a cot, finally letting his arms drop and set Katelyn down across his lap. She immediately stood up and flopped down onto the cot opposite of him, arms and legs crossed as she stared at the wall. Her nose twitched as her face twisted into the most annoyed expression he had ever seen. As she grumbled to herself, her cheeks flushed.   
Leaning against the wall behind him, Travis watched her reactions as his smile grew bigger and bigger. ‘It’s cute when she’s annoyed. Her buttons are easy to push, I guess…’  
As Katelyn caught him staring and glared at him, Lucinda sat down next to her and took her hand, inspecting her wrist.  
“I see… well, I’ll clean it and wrap it up to protect the blisters from any puncturing. Be careful with it after it’s wrapped, and try not to rub it…” she instructed, opening a first aid kit and pulling out a bottle and a roll of gauze. Katelyn nodded at her instructions, watching as Lucinda cleans and dresses her wound.  
“You should stay here for a while, you’re probably dazed, right?” Lucinda asked her, finishing off the gauze wrap. Katelyn opened her mouth to reply, but Travis interrupted.  
“Yep, she should rest for a while! Her shock was pretty bad,” he said, smiling at Lucinda. He pretended not to notice the confused and irritated expression that Katelyn shot at him.  
“I told you before, I’m fine!” she argued, turning to face Lucinda again. “It’s just a headache and my wrist-”  
“Doctor’s orders, Katie-Watie! You’ll stay right there!” Travis stood up, heading to the doorway. “Can’t argue! I’ll check on you later, you better be here!”  
Lucinda grabbed an ice pack from the small fridge in the corner, handing it to Katelyn. Katelyn, exasperated, rolled her eyes with a large sigh before laying down.  
“Thanks, Lucinda, you’re the hottest nurse I know!” Travis cocked his head as he turned on his heel to face the ladies, winking at the redhead. Lucinda smiled and waved her hand as if to shoo him out. Obediently, Travis smiled wide and stepped outside.  
Before he could make his way back to the reactor, he was pushed back by the force of another person colliding with him. He stumbled backwards, steadying himself against the wall.  
Looking down, he saw that it was Aphmau. Her face was panicked, eyes wide and face paler than usual. She grabbed his arms intensely, eyes darting around as she tried to speak.  
“T-Travis! Travis, there’s a problem! Big issue!” Her words poured out of her on top of one another, a jumbled mess of worry. “In-in storage, I was just leaving, and-and… I-she was right there-!”  
“Woah, hey! Slow down! What’s wrong?” he asked, a concerned expression spreading across his face.  
Aphmau closed her eyes and took a long, shaky breath. When she opened her eyes again, they were glistening with tears. Her lip quivered as she spoke.  
“Kawaii~Chan… she… she’s dead.”

**Author's Note:**

> ... if the layout of the ship is confusing (because of the new rooms i had to add for setting reasons) i have a map layout posted on my instagram! @bluberrypix ! i would have put the picture on here directly, but it's not possible to upload an image here :(


End file.
